Why PRRR

We are a litigation boutique with a broad range of expertise and experience. We are routinely involved in Canada's highest profile cases, whether complex commercial litigation or class actions, professional discipline or labour disputes. We are trusted to manage the most sensitive legal issues facing businesses of every size, individuals, labour unions, professional regulatory bodies, academic institutions, and public interest organizations. We are devoted to excellence in advocacy in every area of our practice.

Overview

Our specialized Class Action group is experienced both in prosecuting and defending class proceedings.

The Class Action group is a team of talented lawyers and support staff, with recognized expertise in prosecuting and defending class actions, who devote a significant portion of their practices to this complicated and specialized form of litigation. Acting as class counsel on some cases, and as defence counsel on others gives the Class Action group unique strategic insight in an area where most firms typically represent only one side or the other.

Current Class Actions

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First and foremost, we are committed to excellence in advocacy. Although a number of the lawyers at Paliare Roland concentrate their practice in specific areas of litigation, no one is required to do so. The firm's culture is rooted firmly in the belief that a good litigator is able to do virtually any type of case. Consequently, the ability to advocate on behalf of a client -- any client -- is the primary skill we look for in a lawyer.

Litigation Expertise

Named one of the top 10 litigation boutiques in Canada. Again.

Southern China Livestock Inc.

Case Update

This case has been certified as a class proceeding by the Court of Appeal for Ontario.

If you purchased units of Expedite 4, Inc. through the 2010 private placement, then you are a member of the proposed class and we would like to hear from you. Please ensure that you keep copies of your subscription agreement, and proof of purchase of the units.

We encourage class members to provide us with correct contact information, so that you receive notices and updates as this case proceeds. We will continue to update this website as well.

Certification

The class has been defined as follows:

all persons or entities who purchased investment units (“Units”) of Expedite 4, Inc. between March 29, 2010 and December 23, 2010, and who continued to hold any of the shares or warrants comprising the Units as of December 23, 2010, other than Excluded Parties where the Excluded Parties are:

(ii) the officers, directors, employees, agents, legal representatives, subsidiaries, affiliates, predecessors, successors and assigns of Expedite 4, Inc., Southern China Livestock International Inc., or Southern China Livestock Inc., and any entity in which any of the foregoing have or had any legal or de facto controlling interest; and

Please note that the period for opting out of the class proceeding is over.

A copy of the Reasons for Decision of the Court of Appeal are available under the “Documents” tab, below. A copy of the lower court decisions denying certification are also available under the "Documents" tab below. Those decisions were reversed by the Court of Appeal, and leave to the Supreme Court of Canada was denied.

Nature of the Claim

On October 31, 2012, a claim was commenced against the Canadian accounting firm of Schwartz Levitsky Feldman LLP.

The claim alleges that Schwartz Levitsky Feldman LLP was negligent in failing to exercise the care, skill and diligence of a reasonably competent auditor of a public company, and that it breached its duty of care to investors by providing an unqualified “clean” audit opinion in respect of the Chinese operations of Southern China Livestock Inc., when, in fact, the financial statements were not a fair presentation of the business. Excalibur’s claim on behalf of the proposed class of investors is that none of the investors would have invested in the company but for their reliance on the clean audit report negligently prepared by Schwartz Levitsky Feldman LLP.

This claim is advanced on behalf of a proposed class of investors who purchased investment units in a U.S. company called Expedite 4, Inc. through a private placement financing in 2010. In total, investors paid USD $7,594,965 for investment units in Expedite 4, Inc., and the units are now worthless.

On March 29, 2010, Expedite 4, Inc. acquired a company which operated commercial hog farms in China in a reverse takeover transaction, and simultaneously engaged in the private placement financing aimed at raising USD $10 million.

The reverse takeover was intended to permit the Chinese company to instantly become a public entity in the U.S. The private placement financing was purportedly to grow the commercial hog farm operations in China, through the sale of shares and warrants in the company.

Expedite 4, Inc. is now known as Southern China Livestock Inc.

In fact, investors later learned that Southern China Livestock Inc. had little, if any, control over its hog farm operations, and the business was highly susceptible to theft and fraud. Notably, the sale of hogs in China was primarily in cash and the cash was handled by employees who maintained the funds in their own bank accounts. This fact, the claim alleges, should have been known to Schwartz Levitsky Feldman LLP, and would have precluded a clean audit opinion.

Pleadings are closed. Copies of the pleadings are available under the “Documents” tab. The parties have exchanged productions and examinations for discovery are scheduled for early 2018.